1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:01,700 Hello. Reality church. 2 00:00:03,300 --> 00:00:07,200 It's so great to be here. What a delight to be invited to 3 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:09,900 preach, speak, teach, whatever you guys call it here. 4 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:13,400 If we haven't met before, my name is Justin. 5 00:00:13,500 --> 00:00:18,500 And as Mandy mentioned, my, my role is as pastor at 6 00:00:18,500 --> 00:00:21,800 Resurrection Church in East Boston and the stories of 7 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:25,200 reality, and Resurrection are intertwined in a pretty cool 8 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:29,300 way. So, four or five years ago as my 9 00:00:29,300 --> 00:00:32,100 wife and I Our Discerning whether or not there was a need 10 00:00:32,100 --> 00:00:35,600 for a church in East Boston, whether or not we should be a 11 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:38,800 part of planning a church, I was in conversation with leaders and 12 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:41,500 pastors at reality who were helping me to CERN. 13 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:45,300 They got behind our church, plant in East, Boston, supported 14 00:00:45,300 --> 00:00:47,800 us really generously with finances. 15 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:52,100 We had four people on our core team who were from reality 16 00:00:52,100 --> 00:00:56,900 Church who came with us and we actually have weekly. 17 00:00:56,900 --> 00:00:59,800 We preach from a Pulpit that is the original pulp. 18 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:04,000 Bit from reality church. It's like so I understand why 19 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:05,800 y'all got rid of it. It's so heavy. 20 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:10,100 That's our setup. Team's worst nightmare is moving 21 00:01:10,100 --> 00:01:14,300 that thing but I'm reminded every Sunday when I stand there 22 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:18,100 with that handmade Pulpit that that our stories our time 23 00:01:18,100 --> 00:01:22,200 together, but we're going to go into this text together this 24 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:24,100 morning. I wanted to ask if you'd pray 25 00:01:24,100 --> 00:01:26,000 with me before we look at God's word. 26 00:01:30,500 --> 00:01:33,000 God, we open up space in this room. 27 00:01:34,500 --> 00:01:39,100 And in our hearts, in our minds, for your word. 28 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:43,900 We ask that your Holy Spirit would be moving and active. 29 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:48,800 Spirit. Remove blinders from our eyes. 30 00:01:50,100 --> 00:01:54,800 We pray that you would shine Illuminating Light on this text 31 00:01:56,100 --> 00:01:59,200 for those who look at it and think, been there, done that, 32 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:02,600 it's familiar. We pray that you would remove 33 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:07,200 our calluses that that keep us from being sensitive to how 34 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:09,400 you'd like to speak to us in your word. 35 00:02:10,300 --> 00:02:14,200 We pray that you would deliver your word personally, right to 36 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:18,500 our hearts like cool water for a parched tongue, like a hearty 37 00:02:18,500 --> 00:02:22,700 meal for a hungry belly or we long to hear from you this 38 00:02:22,700 --> 00:02:24,400 morning. Speak to us we pray through 39 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:26,200 Jesus Christ. Our Lord amen. 40 00:02:27,300 --> 00:02:30,800 Back in December, I like many was visiting family for the 41 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:34,900 holidays and there's something I do on vacation that I don't do 42 00:02:34,900 --> 00:02:39,200 what any other time of the year and that is put together. 43 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:42,000 Puzzles. Does anyone else do that on 44 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:44,800 vacation? Okay, I see a couple hands and I 45 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:48,700 know there are some who are afraid to admit it if you give 46 00:02:48,700 --> 00:02:53,600 me a thousand puzzle pieces and a box lid, with a picture of 47 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:58,000 like a field on it. Or a cityscape. 48 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:04,200 I'm good to go for hours. Using my brain in that way. 49 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:07,700 In my hands, I kind of like the cares of the world sort of drift 50 00:03:07,700 --> 00:03:10,800 away. So I was looking through my 51 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:14,000 in-laws puzzle collection, trying to find the right one. 52 00:03:14,300 --> 00:03:18,300 And to my surprise, when I pulled out the, the one that 53 00:03:18,300 --> 00:03:20,400 looked most interesting, I opened the box and there was a 54 00:03:20,408 --> 00:03:24,300 piece of paper. Yellowed with age. 55 00:03:24,500 --> 00:03:27,600 It was clear that no one had touched this puzzle and decades 56 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:34,500 it said missing a piece. Why was this still in the 57 00:03:34,500 --> 00:03:37,000 collection? I wondered because let's be 58 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:39,200 real. No one's going to put together a 59 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:43,700 puzzle that they already know. Has a missing piece because 60 00:03:43,700 --> 00:03:47,300 we've all felt the terror of the missing piece. 61 00:03:47,300 --> 00:03:50,100 You get to the end and it's nowhere to be found on your, on 62 00:03:50,100 --> 00:03:53,800 your hands and knees, looking for it on the ground. we know 63 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:58,800 that feeling of incompleteness, everything else is perfectly in 64 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:06,500 place and there's that one, empty slot, I'm not doing 65 00:04:06,500 --> 00:04:10,300 puzzles, unless I have a shot at making them whole, right? 66 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:13,300 Have you ever felt like something's missing? 67 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:18,000 I've got a hunch that most of us live with an ache. 68 00:04:19,100 --> 00:04:23,200 We live with the longing of the missing piece in our lives. 69 00:04:24,300 --> 00:04:28,000 Even those who appear to have it all together, who look like 70 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:30,700 they're living the dream, they know the ache, the 71 00:04:30,700 --> 00:04:32,900 dissatisfaction of the missing piece. 72 00:04:33,100 --> 00:04:37,600 Sometimes the missing piece is so a key that it makes us want 73 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:39,600 to stop putting the puzzle together. 74 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:41,800 All together you ever felt like that. 75 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:45,000 It's like, I know this can't be made whole I'm going to back 76 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:47,600 out. That's called despair. 77 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:53,100 It's my conviction though. Friends this morning that Jesus 78 00:04:53,500 --> 00:04:58,100 wants to make us whole. He is on a mission to make us 79 00:04:58,100 --> 00:05:03,900 whole where there are wounds he wants our healing where there is 80 00:05:03,900 --> 00:05:09,300 dissatisfaction He wants our Wellness. 81 00:05:11,100 --> 00:05:15,500 He wants our are good desires fulfilled where there's 82 00:05:15,500 --> 00:05:17,700 Brokenness. He's at work towards our 83 00:05:17,700 --> 00:05:22,800 restoration. With Grace, in his eyes, with 84 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:28,600 power in his hands, he wants to make us whole to meet us where 85 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:33,200 we are weary empty estranged fragmented as we maybe James 86 00:05:33,300 --> 00:05:36,600 Jesus, desperately longs to make us whole. 87 00:05:36,700 --> 00:05:39,200 We see that all throughout the gospels and we see it in our 88 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:41,800 text. For today, we're in the 89 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:46,300 beginning of marks narrative, the second chapter, and Jesus 90 00:05:46,300 --> 00:05:49,800 has already caused a stir. So if you were reading chapter 91 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:53,900 one, He's been healing people and casting out demons. 92 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:56,400 He's been declaring the gospel of the Kingdom. 93 00:05:56,400 --> 00:06:01,600 The arrival of God's reign. And you may know Jesus was born 94 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:06,000 in Bethlehem, right? He was raised in Nazareth and 95 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:08,600 then he spent most of his life in the region of Galilee. 96 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:11,000 But interestingly in our text here, we see that he made 97 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:14,300 something of a second home in a town called Capernaum. 98 00:06:14,300 --> 00:06:16,700 And I want us to kind of check out the text together. 99 00:06:16,900 --> 00:06:21,500 Look at verse 1. It says a few days later. 100 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:25,100 When Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that 101 00:06:25,100 --> 00:06:30,600 he had come home. You know, you're in trouble when 102 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:34,600 things are being reported about you the everybody knows your 103 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:37,600 home. Other translations would say, it 104 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:39,300 was reported that he was at home. 105 00:06:39,300 --> 00:06:43,000 It was like the paparazzi knew that the wandering healer was 106 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:45,900 back in town and everyone was interested. 107 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:51,500 Verse 2 says they gathered in such large numbers that there 108 00:06:51,500 --> 00:06:56,400 was no room left, not even outside the door and he preached 109 00:06:56,700 --> 00:06:59,700 the word to them to put yourself in Jesus shoes. 110 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:02,100 Okay. We don't often do that reading 111 00:07:02,100 --> 00:07:05,000 scripture, right? But but imagine your Jesus, 112 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:09,100 you've just gone through Mark chapter 1, you've healed. 113 00:07:09,100 --> 00:07:12,400 All these people, you've had spiritual confrontations with 114 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:16,400 demons the text in mark. One says that Jesus with 115 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:20,300 Withdrew to desolate places. No less than three times. 116 00:07:21,500 --> 00:07:26,400 That meant Jesus was getting like, he was engaging spiritual 117 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:30,200 formation and conversation with his father, three times in the 118 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:34,400 first chapter of Mark. He's got a lot going on. 119 00:07:35,700 --> 00:07:39,100 And now you're headed home right after this busy time of 120 00:07:39,100 --> 00:07:42,600 ministry. And you think you're finally in 121 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:47,500 the clear, you sneak in, but you sneak into town, but your house 122 00:07:47,500 --> 00:07:51,900 is surrounded. And your living room is standing 123 00:07:51,900 --> 00:07:56,100 room only, so yes, scripture teaches Jesus was without sin. 124 00:07:56,300 --> 00:07:59,300 It doesn't teach that he was without social exhaustion. 125 00:08:00,700 --> 00:08:04,200 Maybe a little claustrophobia to boot, right? 126 00:08:05,700 --> 00:08:10,100 The God man needs a break and he's not going to get it at 127 00:08:10,100 --> 00:08:13,300 home. You think of the way you feel 128 00:08:13,300 --> 00:08:15,400 when the train is a little too packed? 129 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:18,400 And you can't really get your hand on a railing. 130 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:21,800 And, and you're wondering, like, am I gonna go flying into the 131 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:24,300 person but behind me or in front of me, right? 132 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:27,800 That's, I would guess that. That is kind of where Jesus is 133 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:31,300 at emotionally. It's been a lot and he's 134 00:08:31,300 --> 00:08:34,100 crowded. He's, he's squeezed, he's 135 00:08:34,100 --> 00:08:37,000 overwhelmed. And yet we're told at the end of 136 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:39,799 this verse that, he preached the word to them. 137 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:45,800 Jesus whole making Mission always includes the preaching of 138 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:49,000 the word. It always includes an 139 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:52,000 announcement of the arrival of God's kingdom. 140 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:56,800 You've probably heard a phrase thrown around by preachers or 141 00:08:56,800 --> 00:09:01,100 maybe like a meme online and inspirational meme that says 142 00:09:01,100 --> 00:09:06,300 preach the gospel always and if necessary use words sometimes 143 00:09:06,300 --> 00:09:11,200 attributed to st. Francis of Assisi, Jesus always 144 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:14,200 used. Birds not exclusively words, but 145 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:19,200 he always preached the word. His message was summarized in 146 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:23,500 Mark 1:14 and 15. It says Jesus came into Galilee. 147 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:29,700 Proclaiming the gospel of God. And saying the time is fulfilled 148 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:33,000 and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the 149 00:09:33,008 --> 00:09:37,000 gospel. So what we find here is that the 150 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:41,000 wholeness Jesus wants to bring his only available where God 151 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:47,800 Reigns and where the edicts of the king are heard and heeded 152 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:52,500 and treasured. You follow that, Jesus wants to 153 00:09:52,500 --> 00:09:58,000 make us whole, but the wholeness is going to come under the Edict 154 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:03,200 of the king. So often I want the wholeness 155 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:06,100 that Jesus brings without responding to the word that 156 00:10:06,100 --> 00:10:13,400 Jesus preaches. He came preaching, the reign of 157 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:16,900 God is here, which means you're not the king. 158 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:21,700 You're not the queen. The kingdom is at hand, you're 159 00:10:21,700 --> 00:10:25,900 no longer the Arbiter of your own destiny, repent. 160 00:10:25,900 --> 00:10:30,600 He says, we don't like that word turn from self-sufficiency from 161 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:34,300 Rebellion from sin. Only when we hear and believe 162 00:10:34,300 --> 00:10:39,200 the good news of King Jesus arrival, when we hear and heed, 163 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:43,800 the Royal edict will wholeness do its work in us. 164 00:10:43,900 --> 00:10:45,700 But let's keep looking at this text. 165 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:49,300 He preaches the gospel. Inside the home. 166 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:53,300 And as he's preaching, something else is going on outside, verses 167 00:10:53,300 --> 00:10:58,500 3 and 4 lettuce in on the scene. It says some men came bringing 168 00:10:58,500 --> 00:11:03,300 to him, a paralyzed man carried by four of them, since they 169 00:11:03,300 --> 00:11:07,000 could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made 170 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:11,100 an opening in the roof above Jesus, by digging through it and 171 00:11:11,100 --> 00:11:16,200 then lowered the mat, the man was lying on So while we re 172 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:19,900 Jesus preaches in his own living room, he hears something 173 00:11:19,900 --> 00:11:23,800 happening up on the roof. Now, you have to imagine the 174 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:29,300 kind of roof that we're talking about the the roof would have 175 00:11:29,300 --> 00:11:34,400 had bent like multiple beams covered them with smaller 176 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:40,000 branches or reads. And then it would have had mud 177 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:43,500 kind of caked on top of it and carefully tended to. 178 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:45,400 So the would have been a Stairway. 179 00:11:45,700 --> 00:11:49,500 Imagine like to this roof here, a Stairway up to the roof and 180 00:11:49,500 --> 00:11:53,100 then there would have been a large Stone roller that the 181 00:11:53,100 --> 00:11:57,100 homeowner would use to roll out the roof, every time there was a 182 00:11:57,108 --> 00:11:59,600 storm, right? The roof in this age, was 183 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:02,600 something that was tended to very carefully. 184 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:08,200 And so Jesus is in his living room and he there's people up 185 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:13,200 there and then he starts hearing some disconcerting noises. 186 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:18,500 Something is going on. He's preaching the crowd looks 187 00:12:18,500 --> 00:12:22,700 around worriedly, because dust and dry mud are starting to come 188 00:12:22,700 --> 00:12:25,500 through the cracks in the ceiling. 189 00:12:26,700 --> 00:12:30,800 Once upon a time, I was preaching, a sermon in a large 190 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:34,800 room that had dropped ceiling. And there had been a big storm 191 00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:37,800 the night before and unbeknownst to any of us in the room. 192 00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:41,800 There was water, pooling above one of those drop ceiling tiles. 193 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:47,000 And then the middle of my sermon it, let loose and soaked, like, 194 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:51,700 five people sitting right over here and just utter shock 195 00:12:51,700 --> 00:12:55,900 because it's, it was like the winter in Boston freezing cold 196 00:12:55,900 --> 00:12:58,600 water. Needless to say, when the roof 197 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:02,500 caves in it changes things, okay, in the room. 198 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:06,800 And so imagine, you're kind of like anxiously looking up. 199 00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:09,800 What is going on up there? If this roof caves in? 200 00:13:10,700 --> 00:13:15,200 It's going to change things. Why is Jesus still preaching? 201 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:19,200 This is what the crowds thinking, the roof, Jesus, the 202 00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:21,700 roof. And he's on about the kingdom of 203 00:13:21,700 --> 00:13:28,500 God. Dust and dry mud fall through 204 00:13:28,500 --> 00:13:32,000 the rushes, overhead do, whatever it takes to get close 205 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:38,300 to Jesus. The men on the roof are hacking 206 00:13:38,300 --> 00:13:43,400 away desperately, do, whatever it takes to get close to Jesus. 207 00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:47,900 I imagine they're thinking, man, this is crazy. 208 00:13:47,900 --> 00:13:51,200 But they're paralyzed friend turns to them and says, do it, 209 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:58,600 do whatever it takes to get close to Jesus, The audience is 210 00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:01,700 staring at the ceiling, because light is starting to shine 211 00:14:01,700 --> 00:14:05,300 through, do whatever it takes, to get close to Jesus. 212 00:14:05,300 --> 00:14:09,400 The text says, they dug through the roof. 213 00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:14,500 Do whatever it takes to get close to Jesus. 214 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:18,500 Then comes the hacking because they have to get through those 215 00:14:18,500 --> 00:14:22,100 support beams. This is not like moving some 216 00:14:22,100 --> 00:14:26,700 brush aside. This is brutal brutish work, 217 00:14:27,300 --> 00:14:31,100 messy, do whatever it takes to get close to Jesus. 218 00:14:31,100 --> 00:14:34,700 And then finally they get a hole big enough to lower their friend 219 00:14:34,700 --> 00:14:37,500 through. Imagine this poor man. 220 00:14:38,100 --> 00:14:42,800 Midair on his back on. Some kind of a mat being lowered 221 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:46,200 at all. Kinds of uneven, angles, scared 222 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:48,600 for his own life, but willing to go down. 223 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:53,100 Because Jesus is there, he says, do whatever it takes to get 224 00:14:53,100 --> 00:15:01,600 close to Jesus only, he can make you whole Finally, he lays on 225 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:04,600 the ground. At Jesus feet. 226 00:15:08,500 --> 00:15:13,600 He looks into his eyes. And weights. 227 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:20,500 Friends, my encouragement to you is to do, whatever it takes to 228 00:15:20,500 --> 00:15:25,200 get close to Jesus. The dig through the roof. 229 00:15:26,700 --> 00:15:30,000 Because he is the one who can make you whole to dig through 230 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:33,700 the roof, even if it's audacious, even if it means you 231 00:15:33,700 --> 00:15:36,700 have to step away from the important work that you're 232 00:15:36,700 --> 00:15:39,600 doing. Even if it is like, socially 233 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:44,500 unacceptable for you to be close to Jesus, even if it makes you 234 00:15:44,500 --> 00:15:48,700 stick out or seem strange dig through the roof, even if it's 235 00:15:48,700 --> 00:15:54,300 time-consuming Even if it's messy or costly and you're not 236 00:15:54,300 --> 00:15:57,200 totally certain how it's all going to work out in the end, 237 00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:00,700 dig through the roof, do. Whatever it takes to get close 238 00:16:00,700 --> 00:16:05,400 to Jesus. He can make you whole We have a 239 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:08,100 flat rubber roof on our house in East Boston. 240 00:16:09,300 --> 00:16:11,900 I don't have to roll it out every time it rains. 241 00:16:11,900 --> 00:16:14,500 I mean, I haven't I've seen it one time, right? 242 00:16:14,900 --> 00:16:16,500 I'm told, it's like 10 years old. 243 00:16:16,500 --> 00:16:21,000 I'll probably have to replace it and five to ten more years, not 244 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:24,700 looking forward to that. It needs some patch work right 245 00:16:24,700 --> 00:16:28,200 now. Apparently So, how would I 246 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:32,100 respond if someone tore through it into my bedroom? 247 00:16:32,100 --> 00:16:37,700 Where my children's bedroom? I would be furious it would 248 00:16:37,700 --> 00:16:41,600 completely consumed me. I would like, call in sick at 249 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:44,500 work to solve the problem. I would spend most of the day on 250 00:16:44,500 --> 00:16:46,200 the phone with the insurance company. 251 00:16:46,500 --> 00:16:48,700 Trying to find a contractor to get there. 252 00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:50,800 I would go to Home Depot and buy a tarp. 253 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:53,500 So I could put it over the hole until somebody got there to fix 254 00:16:53,500 --> 00:16:55,600 it so that nothing else could get into the home. 255 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:59,600 It would overwhelm me. It would be the only thing I 256 00:16:59,608 --> 00:17:06,700 could see or think about And I would be going after the people 257 00:17:06,700 --> 00:17:11,300 who put the hole in my roof. How does Jesus respond? 258 00:17:12,099 --> 00:17:15,800 When there's a hole in his living room, roof verse 5, says 259 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:21,599 When Jesus saw their faith. He said to the paralyzed, man. 260 00:17:21,599 --> 00:17:24,300 Son, your sins are forgiven. What? 261 00:17:26,300 --> 00:17:28,500 Jesus opinion on the material loss. 262 00:17:28,500 --> 00:17:31,600 Doesn't even Merit. A mention in the gospel. 263 00:17:32,100 --> 00:17:35,300 Why is that? I think it's because he is so 264 00:17:35,300 --> 00:17:39,700 present. He is so available. 265 00:17:41,500 --> 00:17:44,800 So eager to see the kingdom come. 266 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:50,600 So attuned to the paralyzed, man before him that the roof is an 267 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:56,400 afterthought for Jesus. And I want you to see that. 268 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:01,400 You've already imagined what it would be like to be Jesus, but 269 00:18:01,700 --> 00:18:04,700 put yourself in a different character situation. 270 00:18:05,700 --> 00:18:09,100 The paralyzed man probably was uncertain about about how Jesus 271 00:18:09,100 --> 00:18:10,600 would feel when he got down there. 272 00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:16,500 And what did he find? He found An attentive kind, 273 00:18:17,700 --> 00:18:22,900 caring gays. No friends. 274 00:18:22,900 --> 00:18:26,300 That Jesus is attentively waiting for you. 275 00:18:28,700 --> 00:18:33,800 And he doesn't care how you get to him, and he doesn't care how 276 00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:38,600 messy your processes. Or how long it takes. 277 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:47,300 Or what state you arrived in. He desperately longs to be close 278 00:18:47,300 --> 00:18:52,100 to you. Especially in your desperation. 279 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:00,300 So, when you imagine the Gaze of Jesus, what does it, what does 280 00:19:00,300 --> 00:19:07,300 it look like? I want to tell you that it is 281 00:19:07,300 --> 00:19:15,200 not a look of disappointment. That it is, is not a look of a 282 00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:19,200 Stern person with their arms crossed, shaking their head. 283 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:22,200 What took you so long to get here? 284 00:19:22,300 --> 00:19:28,100 Or why was it so messy or? No, he looks at us with 285 00:19:28,100 --> 00:19:33,500 affection with gladness with compassion. 286 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:42,000 And what does he say? Son daughter, your sins are 287 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:46,900 forgiven and that's kind of like a, what moment for me because 288 00:19:46,900 --> 00:19:50,100 the man is paralyzed and they have gone to Great Lengths to 289 00:19:50,100 --> 00:19:51,000 get him here. He's in. 290 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:53,300 Clear, need of physical healing, right. 291 00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:56,200 And Jesus says, your sins are forgiven. 292 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:01,300 Perhaps you like me would would be curious, why? 293 00:20:01,300 --> 00:20:04,800 Jesus was taking the conversation in this direction. 294 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:08,300 Everything seems to be driving toward a dramatic healing like 295 00:20:08,300 --> 00:20:14,600 he had done. All in Mark chapter 1 I often 296 00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:18,200 approached Jesus, wanting to be made whole to have my life 297 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:20,800 situation changed. Maybe you do this, you want 298 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:23,100 wholeness from Jesus. You want your relationships 299 00:20:23,100 --> 00:20:24,800 restored. You want Clarity on where you're 300 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:26,500 supposed to go. What you're supposed to do for 301 00:20:26,500 --> 00:20:29,200 work who you're supposed to date, whether or not you should 302 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:31,400 get married, how many kids you should have? 303 00:20:33,100 --> 00:20:36,500 I'm not very interested in hearing him, say your sins are 304 00:20:36,500 --> 00:20:41,500 forgiven. If I'm honest, it's partly 305 00:20:41,500 --> 00:20:45,500 because I don't think that sin is that big of a deal Lord have 306 00:20:45,500 --> 00:20:52,200 mercy. Or If we're honest maybe it's 307 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:54,200 because we just don't want to stop sinning. 308 00:20:54,400 --> 00:21:02,400 Lord have mercy. We want all the benefits of the 309 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:04,800 Kingdom, the Shalom, the peace, the wholeness, the 310 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:07,300 reconciliation that Jesus brings, but we want to live our 311 00:21:07,300 --> 00:21:12,900 lives, according to self-rule. In harmony with the spirit of 312 00:21:12,900 --> 00:21:16,000 the age, I'm preaching to the preacher, okay? 313 00:21:20,900 --> 00:21:24,400 We want dual citizenship in the kingdom of God, and in the 314 00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:29,500 domain of Darkness, The Best of Both Worlds. 315 00:21:29,500 --> 00:21:34,800 So we think and in the process we miss out on the wholeness 316 00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:39,400 that Jesus desires for us, the wholeness that comes when God 317 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:43,000 delivers you, out of the domain of darkness and into the kingdom 318 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:48,600 of his beloved Son. So why does Jesus say your sins 319 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:53,100 are forgiven? It's because the primary thing 320 00:21:53,100 --> 00:21:57,600 that primary work in your life that God wants to do is the 321 00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:00,300 elimination of estrangement from God. 322 00:22:00,300 --> 00:22:02,000 I didn't say the only thing Thing. 323 00:22:04,900 --> 00:22:08,200 I said that one of the I said the primary thing God wants to 324 00:22:08,208 --> 00:22:11,800 do, that's why there's so much talk about Sin and 325 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:16,900 Reconciliation in scripture because we are estranged from 326 00:22:16,900 --> 00:22:20,500 God and Jesus will stop at nothing to close the gap. 327 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:24,400 He doesn't want anything between you and himself. 328 00:22:25,700 --> 00:22:28,200 And he's willing to do. Whatever it takes to remove 329 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:29,900 anything that stands between you. 330 00:22:32,100 --> 00:22:35,800 Paralyzed man was not the only one confused by what Jesus was 331 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:38,400 saying. Look at verses 6 and following. 332 00:22:39,700 --> 00:22:42,100 It says, now some teachers of the law were sitting there 333 00:22:42,100 --> 00:22:45,600 thinking to themselves. Why does this fellow talk like 334 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:49,500 that? He's blaspheming, who can 335 00:22:49,500 --> 00:22:53,400 forgive sins, but God alone, good question. 336 00:22:55,300 --> 00:22:57,800 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they 337 00:22:57,800 --> 00:22:59,600 were thinking in their hearts and he said to them. 338 00:23:00,100 --> 00:23:02,500 Why are you thinking these things? 339 00:23:05,500 --> 00:23:09,000 The scribes are mad because Jesus has claimed for himself an 340 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:14,400 authority that belongs only to God the ability to forgive sins. 341 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:20,500 If he's not God, they rightly accused him of blasphemy. 342 00:23:21,900 --> 00:23:25,100 In fact, Jesus will later be crucified on a blasphemy charge. 343 00:23:25,500 --> 00:23:30,300 Just like this one. This is serious business but 344 00:23:30,300 --> 00:23:34,300 Jesus has a point to make he continues in verse 9 which is 345 00:23:34,300 --> 00:23:38,800 easier to say to this paralyzed. Man your sins are forgiven or to 346 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:41,900 say get up take your mat and walk. 347 00:23:42,300 --> 00:23:46,700 You tell me We all know the answer to this question. 348 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:53,200 Anyone can talk nobody can make a paralyzed man walk with the 349 00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:55,800 power of their word. The only person that could do 350 00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:59,900 that would be the same person who spoke this world into 351 00:23:59,900 --> 00:24:01,800 existence with his word of power. 352 00:24:03,900 --> 00:24:05,600 God, Alone could do such a thing. 353 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:10,000 Jesus continues in verse 10. I want you to know that the son 354 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:13,100 of man has Authority on Earth to forgive sins. 355 00:24:14,500 --> 00:24:16,700 What is he saying? What I'm about to do is prove 356 00:24:16,700 --> 00:24:18,800 that I have authority to forgive sins. 357 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:21,900 It's proof that I am the son of the father. 358 00:24:24,100 --> 00:24:28,800 I want you to know. That I have the authority on 359 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:33,200 Earth to forgive sins so he said to the man I tell you get up 360 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:39,900 take your mat and go home. He got up and took his mat and 361 00:24:39,900 --> 00:24:43,400 walked out in full view of them. All this amazed everyone and 362 00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:46,500 they praised God saying we've never seen anything like this. 363 00:24:51,300 --> 00:24:55,100 God wants to do something in each of Our Lives. 364 00:24:55,100 --> 00:24:58,800 That makes us say I've never seen anything like this. 365 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:06,000 I've never seen anything like this in the only way that this 366 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:11,800 could have come about, Is through contact with the divine. 367 00:25:13,500 --> 00:25:17,900 I contact with the Divine, as it were, imagine the eye contact 368 00:25:17,900 --> 00:25:21,100 between Jesus and the paralyzed, man, we're not told anything 369 00:25:21,100 --> 00:25:23,700 about the man situation. We know that he can't walk, 370 00:25:23,900 --> 00:25:28,400 which means that he likely, he was dependent on other people, 371 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:31,400 like these friends that have have carried him to Jesus. 372 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:36,700 So he's never known the joy of a shared burden of carrying 373 00:25:36,700 --> 00:25:41,200 something with another. We don't know if he was injured 374 00:25:41,300 --> 00:25:44,900 during his lifetime. If he was born this way, if he 375 00:25:44,900 --> 00:25:47,900 had a disease or stroke that stole his Mobility, but whatever 376 00:25:47,900 --> 00:25:50,600 the case it was, he likely begged for money. 377 00:25:52,700 --> 00:25:56,200 We have other stories of paralyzed beggars in the gospel. 378 00:25:59,300 --> 00:26:03,600 But they experienced isolation and dehumanization, they were 379 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:07,400 ignored and derided. And when he makes eye contact 380 00:26:07,400 --> 00:26:16,200 with Jesus, it all changes. Your sins are forgiven. 381 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:20,000 Jesus says, you are spiritually whole. 382 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:25,200 You are not a strange from God. Any longer your United to God, 383 00:26:25,300 --> 00:26:32,600 you're welcome in his presence. Jesus goes on. 384 00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:42,000 He says Rise. you are physically whole get up your well walk 385 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:46,100 around and those atrophied muscles in a moment. 386 00:26:46,100 --> 00:26:49,100 Start start working afresh and anew. 387 00:26:50,300 --> 00:26:55,300 Jesus says, take up your mat. Take up your bed. 388 00:26:56,900 --> 00:27:02,400 You have a calling to bend down to do physical activity, bodily 389 00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:07,400 exertion to work. Jesus says, go home. 390 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:12,600 Your holy free come and go as you please. 391 00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:15,300 You don't even need those four guys to help you. 392 00:27:15,300 --> 00:27:18,400 Get home. Go home, can you imagine the man 393 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:23,700 being like, I can go home? I've never seen anything like 394 00:27:23,700 --> 00:27:29,800 this. I can climb onto my own roof and 395 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:34,100 I can carry my other friend here to come meet Jesus and get the 396 00:27:34,108 --> 00:27:41,000 same thing I got Do whatever it takes to get close to Jesus 397 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:45,200 only, he can make you whole. So what about the puzzle is? 398 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:48,500 Jesus, the missing piece in the puzzle of this man's life. 399 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:56,100 Is that is that the story? That if you plug, Jesus into 400 00:27:56,100 --> 00:28:00,900 your puzzle. That it'll be all right. 401 00:28:00,900 --> 00:28:04,800 And good that you'll be whole just that one missing Jesus 402 00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:09,700 peace in your heart. friends, the gospels drive this point 403 00:28:09,700 --> 00:28:12,800 home again, and again, that Jesus is not the missing piece 404 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:20,900 in our puzzles, we are missing pieces in his and he is on the 405 00:28:20,900 --> 00:28:25,900 hunt for us. He is looking for us. 406 00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:34,500 We're all Misfit missing pieces. Who don't really fit in 407 00:28:34,508 --> 00:28:42,500 anywhere. And the paralyzed man shows us 408 00:28:42,500 --> 00:28:46,600 that Jesus makes us whole when we're plugged into his story. 409 00:28:47,100 --> 00:28:50,800 What changed for this man? It's not that he got a little 410 00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:54,900 theological content about Jesus and plugged it in its that he 411 00:28:54,900 --> 00:29:01,400 got he got lowered into the story of Jesus, the whole making 412 00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:09,600 story of Jesus. The way Jesus responds to him 413 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:12,500 shows us that the god of the Bible is the kind of God who 414 00:29:12,500 --> 00:29:16,500 gets down on his hands and knees and goes looking for those 415 00:29:16,500 --> 00:29:20,900 missing pieces of his puzzle. Just as he looks for the Lost 416 00:29:20,900 --> 00:29:23,400 coin and the lost sheep and the prodigal son. 417 00:29:23,900 --> 00:29:27,800 He's the God who has made a place for all of our Jagged 418 00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:31,600 edges, all of our rips and tears. 419 00:29:32,300 --> 00:29:34,700 All of our sun damage and coffee stains. 420 00:29:35,900 --> 00:29:38,600 He's made a place for us in his picture. 421 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:42,900 He takes the stuff of Our Lives. That doesn't seem to make any 422 00:29:42,900 --> 00:29:47,900 sense, and he gently places Us in his new picture, his new 423 00:29:47,900 --> 00:29:52,800 story, and we are made whole. We fit in the story of Jesus. 424 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:59,200 We belong in the story of Jesus. We are home in the story of 425 00:29:59,300 --> 00:30:04,800 Jesus. He longs to make us whole So 426 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:09,500 friends, my word to you today is to do whatever it takes to get 427 00:30:09,500 --> 00:30:12,600 to Jesus, to dig through the proverbial roof. 428 00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:18,400 To bring him, your desperation, your exhaustion, anxiety, Gloom 429 00:30:19,500 --> 00:30:25,500 hopelessness, apathy numbness, pain, wounds sickness, bring him 430 00:30:25,500 --> 00:30:30,000 your body, your soul, your relationships, your work, your 431 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:34,800 longings, your marriage, your parenting, your everything, lay 432 00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:39,900 yourself at the feet of Jesus, and look into his tender eyes. 433 00:30:42,900 --> 00:30:45,100 He has a place tailor-made for you. 434 00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:51,100 In his story. He Longs for you to be made 435 00:30:51,100 --> 00:30:54,600 whole in him. And how much does he long to 436 00:30:54,600 --> 00:31:00,300 make us? Whole In the Incarnation, God is 437 00:31:00,300 --> 00:31:04,900 taking on flesh, in the person of Jesus, God has dug through 438 00:31:04,900 --> 00:31:09,100 the proverbial roof of Heaven to descend into our world and to 439 00:31:09,100 --> 00:31:12,700 carry out his sin forgiving whole making mission. 440 00:31:14,700 --> 00:31:18,100 The father said to the son who said to the spirit, do whatever 441 00:31:18,100 --> 00:31:20,800 it takes to get close to our people. 442 00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:26,500 Dig through the roof, do whatever it takes, take up the 443 00:31:26,500 --> 00:31:31,500 cross. Do whatever it takes bear in 444 00:31:31,500 --> 00:31:36,000 your body son, all of the pain, all of the estrangement the 445 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:39,600 fragmentation thus in the Brokenness to death, do whatever 446 00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:45,300 it takes. Go down to cold death, know the 447 00:31:45,300 --> 00:31:49,000 grave from the inside. So you can turn death, Inside 448 00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:54,300 Out, do, whatever it takes, and the sun, risen and ascended, 449 00:31:54,300 --> 00:31:58,400 poured out, the spirit and said, do whatever it takes to get 450 00:31:58,400 --> 00:32:04,000 close to our people. Take up residence in them. 451 00:32:04,200 --> 00:32:11,700 Dwell within them that we might make them whole And how will we 452 00:32:11,700 --> 00:32:18,800 respond today, friends? Are we open to this movement of 453 00:32:18,800 --> 00:32:25,800 the Divine toward us? And are we willing to move 454 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:29,500 toward god? Father, son and spirit who long 455 00:32:29,500 --> 00:32:32,300 to make us whole. I pray that it be. 456 00:32:32,300 --> 00:32:33,700 So would you join me in prayer?